Canada 1955. The Official Handbook of Present Conditions and Recent Progress.Ottawa: Dominion Bureau of Statistics, 1955.

Below, the lower photo enlarged. What looks to be CF-100 Canucks ("Clunks" or "Lead Sleds" to the RCAF pilots) under construction. Soon to be replaced by the Avro CF-105 Arrow and Canadian aviation infamy.

I love the trademark--"Trustworthy."The P&C Tool Company was founded in 1920 by two Swedish blacksmiths, John Peterson & Charles Carlborg. Their firm started in Boise, Idaho, but soon moved to Portland Oregon. In 1941, the company was acquired by Plomb, which then became Proto, and then Pendletoon Tool Industries, until being swallowed by Ingersoll Rand which eventually closed down the P&C division in the late 1960's. Ingersoll-Rand's Proto division was sucked into the voracious Stanley Tools empire in 1984.For a thorough look at the company's history and wares, visit P&C Tool Enthusiasts.

Monday, December 30, 2013

A Great Western train crosses the suspension bridge at Niagara Falls, year unknown. The crossing must have been done slowly. I expect the flexibility of the bridge could start some frightening wave action.

From Michael Williams. Curiosities of Cornwall. (Cornwall: Bossiney Books, 1983). The vacuum cleaner is on display at the North Cornwall Museum and Gallery in Camelford, north Cornwall, England. Unlike the Daisy, Booth's machine was a large, gasoline-powered device drawn by horses, using large hoses drawn through the windows of the house being cleaned.

If you were on the Allied side, you really didn't want to meet one of these Panzer VI monsters. The Tiger I weighed in at 56.9 tonnes, the Tiger II (or "King Tiger") at 69.7 tonnes.Below, from the book:

Saturday, December 28, 2013

Four masted schooner Nancy Hanks built at Thomaston Me. in 1917. Although in the Canadian Maritimes wooden sailing shipbuilding was over, in Maine they were built well into the 20th Century.Painted white, the Nancy Hanks- named either after President Lincoln's mother or for the race horse of the same name, is beautiful- she looks like a seagull alighting on the water. She met her end 9 years later aground on the Florida Reef.

In 1551, the British parliament passed the Holy Days and Feasting Act, which required that every citizen attend church, and that they shall not travel to that service in any kind of vehicle, presumably to prevent the rich from showing off. Fortunately, the act was repealed in 1969, so we're good to go now by bike or by car.

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Clarkson Rose. Red Plush and Greasepaint. A Memory of the Music-Hall and Life and Times from the Nineties to the Sixties.London: Museum Press Ltd., 1964.

Who can forget hits like "Rock with the Caveman," "What a Mouth (What a North and South)," "Doomsday Rock" and "Flash Bang Wallop?"Looking at the photo, it's a wonder that The Fonz wasn't tied up in a lawsuit.